World Soil Day 2020 Message
By: Dr. Murukesan Krishnapillai
Humanity depends on the existence of healthy soils, both for the production of food and for ensuring a healthy, biodiverse environment, among other functions. We even define ourselves by our relationship to soil: the words ‘human’ and ‘humanity’ are linguistically rooted in ‘humus’ – which is the fertile upper portion of the soil. In spite of the connections, many of us fail to consider the importance of the Earth’s soils for generations to come. For all these reasons, it is high time that World Soil Day became known to more people than just scientists concerned about the welfare of our planet.
World Soil Day is held annually on December 5th as a means to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable management of soil resources (World Soil Day 2020 will be observed on Friday, Dec 4th). The theme of World Soil Day 2020 is “Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity.” World Soil Day 2020 aims to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the growing challenges in soil management, fighting soil biodiversity loss, increasing soil awareness and encouraging governments, organizations, communities and individuals around the world to commit proactively improving soil health.
Current pandemic events have gotten people thinking about growing their own food to increase the resilience. However, urban soils in our islands are highly disturbed and manipulated through mixing and filling by construction-related activities. Restoration of urban soils is critical to improving crop productivity and nutritional quality of vegetables. Application of compost and other organic materials is essential to improving soil quality and alleviating soil-related constraints to food production.
It is time to turn the crisis into an opportunity to move us towards a better “new normal,” that is to transform current crop production systems to more sustainable and resilient ones that have the ability to reduce risks and vulnerabilities to multiple threats, and to absorb, adapt and recover in a timely manner. For this, soil deserves our respect and attention.
The success of World Soil Day depends on you and everyone’s involvement. A general engagement, both individual and collective, is required for disseminating knowledge and awareness of the value of the soil beneath our feet. Talk to your students, talk to your colleagues, talk to your friends and families, talk to your neighbors. Spread this message. Happy World Soil Day!
